Getting your fix of reality TV
by John Wenzel on August 28, 2006

John
Fans request autographs from “Real World” Key West cast member John (center) at Club Vinyl’s reality TV party.

– As we previously reported, Club Vinyl hosted the MTV Reality TV Junky party on Friday, and we sent reporter Scott Lieber there to check it out. He snapped a few photos and talked briefly to some of the “stars” that showed up to mingle with a few hundred of their closest friends…

– Here’s Scott’s report:

“Club Vinyl hosted another MTV party Friday, their first since the unofficial ‘Real World’ Denver launch party in June. They invited Teddy (“8th & Ocean”), Kenny (“Fresh Meat”), John (“The Real World” Key West), Svetlana (“The Real World” Key West) and Casey (“Fresh Meat”).

Svetlana, whose Key West season just finished airing, complained about how the show mischaracterized her as a snobby JAP (her words), since she’s actually from a pretty humble upbringing in New York. One episode that she pointed out as particularly untrue was the one in which the roommates fought over who should be manager at Mystic Tan, the store at which the cast was working.

Svetlana
Svetlana (right) and a fan talk at Club Vinyl’s reality TV party.

– As the episode tells it, Svetlana wants to be manager and lobbies for the position against castmate Zach. Her adversarial relationship with fellow roommate Tyler leads to Zach getting the position, and Svetlana is crushed. As Svetlana tells it, her boss, Ricky, made her the manager the first two weeks before the cast wanted to re-vote on who the manager should be.

Svetlana says she helped logistically open the store, ‘Did everything they asked me to do, and then people turn it around.’ Ricky’s blog seems to back up some of her story but not completely.

Svetlana then talked about her relationship with castmate Tyler, who often picked on her. ‘He’s a sad, disturbed person,â€? she said. “He’s not a human being capable of feeling anything.’

Ouch.

Svetlana2
Male fans surround Svetlana at Club Vinyl.

– She also said she had been asked to be on the Austin season (filmed before Key West), but declined because she didn’t think she was ready. She just finished filming the new ‘Real World-Road Rules’ challenge in Brazil, and, though she can’t give exact details, says she did ‘very well.’

‘Real World’ Key West cast member John seemed uninterested in talking to me and partied and drank all night long (not that I can blame him.)

– The other reality stars fraternized with the fans. Casey, from the Fresh Meat Challenge, said she tried out for ‘The Real World’ but the producers asked her to be on the challenge instead. ‘I thought it’d be cool to be on TV,’ she told me. She seemed to enjoy all the admiration on Friday.”

Casey
Casey (right) talks with a fan at the reality TV party at Club Vinyl.

– So… I would have been there with Scott to cover the party but I was camping in Yellowstone, which is pretty sweet this time of year, despite the windy rain (and there was a lot of it).

– Anyway, here’s another Svetlana-related link: an edit of the audition tapes she sent to MTV (click here to view). It pretty much confirms that her personality on the show isn’t much different than what she wanted the world to see: over-dramatic, conceited, deep as a baby pool, proud of her big boobs, dismissive/insulting toward men, and (in her own words) “a big, big bitch.”

– And she wonders why people gave her sh*t on the show…


3 Comments »

  1. Nice reporting. I’m with you on the Svetlana thing, she’s a self-professed bitch who then calims others are disturbed for calling her on her behavior. How deluded are these meglomaniacs?

    Comment by Andy Butler — August 28, 2006 @ 8:02 pm

  2. Be easy on Svetlana, NONE of you have met her…..

    It’s funny how John looks 5 years younger in that picture.

    Comment by Tony — August 28, 2006 @ 8:46 pm

  3. John looks like Damien from TRL in that picture..

    Comment by Chris — August 30, 2006 @ 3:36 pm

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